MSDN - Window application vs Web application

Author

Window application vs Web application

Happy Day

2006-06-17, 8:03 am

Can anyone tell me in general, what types of applications should be built
using Visual Studio.Net Window Application vs Web Application?
Thanks in advance.

Gerry Hickman

2006-06-17, 8:03 am

Hi,

Web applications are the way forward as they can also run on Mac/Linux,
and they also get round all the silly security issues you get with
Windows "smart client" layers such as Avalon and ActiveX. Web apps are
also standards compliant, accessible and cross-browser.

The original Microsoft vision was that everyone would run Windows and
would want silly and annoying ActiveX controls embedded in web pages and
emails. The later vision was that everyone would want to run Windows-
only "Avalon" layers using XAML and smart clients (bloatware to you and me).

However, if you read their latest marketing rubbish you'll note a degree
of back-tracking trying to make it seem like Windows (and the new web
expression software) will put Windows at the top of the standards
compliance league.

Forget desktop apps (unless it's graphics/DTP), life is too short. If
you need to do something fancy with the o/s, just use unmanaged C++ with
a x-browser, standards compliant front-end; .NET is bloated and silly
and should be avoided. You can't cross-compile .NET framework for
Mac/Linux, but you can with C++. You also don't want all the headaches
of which .NET framework to target, especially with 3.0 round the corner.

Happy Day wrote:
> Can anyone tell me in general, what types of applications should be built
> using Visual Studio.Net Window Application vs Web Application?
> Thanks in advance.

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Wayne Wengert

2006-06-17, 8:03 am

I write several Windows apps as well as Web apps for some non-profit groups.
Obviously, the Windows apps have to "installed" on the systems where they
will be used. Most Web apps can be run simply by opening the url in a
browser.

I prefer the windows apps where appropriate as they are much more responsive
and you don't have to deal with the variations in browsers. In one case, I
have a fairly large Windows app that is used by the staff in the
organization's main office to manage registration, scheduling and mailing
lists (it uses a SQL Server 2000 DB backend). Because I can detect keystroke
actions and such, it is possible to provide a very responsive package.

For the consumers of the information I built a Web app that allows users on
Windows, Linux or Macs to get the information they need.

HTH

Wayne

"Happy Day" <HappyDay@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FC464712-0AF3-445D-BB55-1329D153E297@microsoft.com...
> Can anyone tell me in general, what types of applications should be built
> using Visual Studio.Net Window Application vs Web Application?
> Thanks in advance.

Gerry Hickman

2006-06-17, 6:57 pm

Hi Wayne,

In my view, the only web apps that are "unresponsive" are badly written
ones. I also don't see the issue with having to "deal with variations in
browsers"; IE/Mozilla have supported W3C compliant DHTML and ECMA script
for years. The only people who will see "variations" are those who are
writing bad code.

This isn't to say your own app should not be a Windows app, I just don't
agree with the two points above.

Wayne Wengert wrote:
> I write several Windows apps as well as Web apps for some non-profit groups.
> Obviously, the Windows apps have to "installed" on the systems where they
> will be used. Most Web apps can be run simply by opening the url in a
> browser.
>
> I prefer the windows apps where appropriate as they are much more responsive
> and you don't have to deal with the variations in browsers. In one case, I
> have a fairly large Windows app that is used by the staff in the
> organization's main office to manage registration, scheduling and mailing
> lists (it uses a SQL Server 2000 DB backend). Because I can detect keystroke
> actions and such, it is possible to provide a very responsive package.
>
> For the consumers of the information I built a Web app that allows users on
> Windows, Linux or Macs to get the information they need.
>
> HTH
>
> Wayne
>
> "Happy Day" <HappyDay@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:FC464712-0AF3-445D-BB55-1329D153E297@microsoft.com...
>
>

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Jon Davis

2006-06-24, 8:00 am

My, how unbiased you are!!

Happy Day, your choice will depend entirely upon your app requirements and
upon your market.

Use Web apps if you need to focus on centeral services and/or if
accessibility (provide access to your app from other operating systems, etc)
is high priority. If you're just working with basic forms or perhaps some
Flash animations, etc., and especially if you're managing a multi-user,
shared database solution, web applications work fine. I won't get into
brochureware--it's been years since I've seen brochureware in the form of a
Windows app.

Use Windows apps if you are more interested in functionality; there are many
things that web apps cannot do (at least not without installing a lot of
Windows apps in the form of ActiveX controls, etc), such as real-time
graphics, hardware interopability, client-side plug-in extensibility,
seamless local file storage, DirectX support (i.e. for games or for advanced
multimedia solutions), and direct access to Windows APIs. Windows apps have
the added advantage of feeling like they are a part of your installed
applications, i.e. Start Menu icons, standalone windows, etc. The
di

vantages with Windows apps is that you're limiting your target audience
of your app, and you're also potentially doing away with a lot of security
lock-downs that the web environment enjoys.

--
Jon Davis

"Gerry Hickman" <gerry666uk@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:%23oSN7J$jGHA.4444@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> Web applications are the way forward as they can also run on Mac/Linux,
> and they also get round all the silly security issues you get with Windows
> "smart client" layers such as Avalon and ActiveX. Web apps are also
> standards compliant, accessible and cross-browser.
>
> The original Microsoft vision was that everyone would run Windows and
> would want silly and annoying ActiveX controls embedded in web pages and
> emails. The later vision was that everyone would want to run Windows- only
> "Avalon" layers using XAML and smart clients (bloatware to you and me).
>
> However, if you read their latest marketing rubbish you'll note a degree
> of back-tracking trying to make it seem like Windows (and the new web
> expression software) will put Windows at the top of the standards
> compliance league.
>
> Forget desktop apps (unless it's graphics/DTP), life is too short. If you
> need to do something fancy with the o/s, just use unmanaged C++ with a
> x-browser, standards compliant front-end; .NET is bloated and silly and
> should be avoided. You can't cross-compile .NET framework for Mac/Linux,
> but you can with C++. You also don't want all the headaches of which .NET
> framework to target, especially with 3.0 round the corner.
>
> Happy Day wrote:
>
>
> --
> Gerry Hickman (London UK)

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